The Serpent God
by Hebi-san
Summary: One mistake was all it took to unleash that horror, now after so many years has passed, Jiraiya and Tsunade intend to set things right.But how do you manage that when the person in need, refuse their help? Chapter 7 is up!R/R please.*YAOI*
1. Chapter 1

The Serpent God

Chapter 1: About old mistakes, and an Exorcism

Main Characters: Jiriya, Orochimaru, Tsunade

Minor Characters: Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, etc

Warnings: somewhat AU, Yaoi(eventually)

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

*Past*

"Oh, check out this place! It's frickin' huge!"

"As to be expected of a temple dedicated to worship."

"Yeah… but damn… " his teammate whistled, still scanning the surroundings with big eyes.

"I never would've pegged you for an architecture connaiseur, Jiraiya," Tsunade said with a slightly teasing tone. It was the first time since that morning's "incident" , when she had caught their pervy teammate peeking on her washing herself off in the river, that she had spoken to him. Unless you counted the loudly yelled death threats.

Orochimaru was glad for that small respite, having Jiraiya and Tsunade not speaking to each other always had an unpleasant side effect: They whined about the whole ridiculous ordeal to him. As if he had nothing better to do than to listen to their inane whining.

"I'm a connoisseur of all things pretty, Tsu," he heard Jiriya reply and without looking he could feel the flirty jumping of his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah? Guess that's why I found you trying to sneak in to peek at...Hmph!"

Obviously Jiriya must've covered her mouth with his hand at this time, trying to keep her from finishing that sentence. No matter, he had an idea of what she had been about to say. As he heard his teammates begin to struggle with each other, once more starting up a new argument, Orochimaru continued further into the abandoned temple. The only light source as he got further into the temple and away from the entrance was the torch in his hand and the golden light cast restless shadows on the heavily decorated walls.

He ignored the sounds of the argument from behind as he approached the altar. He didn't need those two to finish this mission. All he had to do was to find the serpentine scrolls that were supposed to be in this temple. The altar was of a rather simple design, obviously quite ancient judging by the primitive way in which the altar was cut and decorated. He ran his fingers over the rough surface, wondering over what kind of deity that had once been worshipped here.

No doubt something to do with snakes in some manner, he though as he studied the decorations on the walls and altar. The decorations all depicted slithering forms, some with human features, some distinctly snakes, and others were larger, and looked more ferocious. Some kind of snake deity? Or a naga perhaps? Was that the reason that he felt a… connection to this place? Or was it just his imagination? Yet, he had never been one to conjure up impressions out of nothing; in fact he had always been rather proud of his clinical mind. It had always served him well. So why was it that he felt this deep, almost vibrating, bond to this place? At the same time filling him with both comfort and dread.

The thought struck him like a punch in the gut that this place was… dangerous. They should get out of here as quickly as possible, he decided.

Suddenly he felt something coming at him from behind and he quickly jumped out of the way. As if in slow motion he saw that it was Jiriya, screaming as he probably had been hurled across the room by Tsunade. The other young man crashed into the altar, causing it crash to the ground and hitting the small shelf behind the altar. The white haired man groaned.

"Dammit, Tsunade… I was just kidding…" he heard him complain, but Orochimaru barely paid his words any attention. Instead he found his gaze fixed on the stone vessel that had been standing on the shelf. The impact from when Jiriya had crashed into it had rattled the self and now the vessel was tipping. Sliding. Off the shelf.

The same feeling of dread as he had felt previously assaulted him, and in the same second that the vessel tumbled off the shelf he knew that if it crashed into the ground things would get bad.

"No!" he cried, launching towards the falling vessel, reaching out desperately. He almost caught it, he really did. He could feel the cold, rough surface of it against his fingertips before it slammed into the floor. But almost didn't cut it. He was a shinobi, and he if anyone would know that.

"The hell are you doing?" Jiriya grunted, and gave him and odd look as he scratched his head gently.

Once again Orochimaru barely heard him, his eyes fixed in the broken vessel. The dread tore through him as he stared at the slowly rising dust that had slipped out of the vessel. For the first time since he was a child he felt horror.

Bad. This was bad. His limbs felt weak, almost sluggish as he pushed himself up from the floor.

"Run…" he hissed, still unable to tear his eyes away from the vessel.

"Wha…?" Jiriya sounded as stupid as usual, and made no move to get up from the floor.

"Oro, what's going on?" Tsunade asked from behind him, sounding worried. She knew something had to be wrong for him to react this way.

"Run," he repeated, stronger this time.

"But why s….?" Jiriya began, but interrupted himself as the dust from the vessel suddenly burst into the still, dank air of the temple. He ran to his feet, and in the same movement whipped out his kunai, but it was too late.

For a second Orochimaru thought it looked like the dust formed into a grinning face, not quite human but distorted in some horrifying way, and then it was on him. In him. He screamed, the dust choking him and scratching his throat like fire as it plunged into him. He thought he could hear someone screaming his name, but wasn't certain, before everything went black and he felt his whole body crumble under some unknown force.

*

*Present*

The stillness of the night was but a cloak to veil what lay beyond. Once daybreak came sneaking up on them they all knew that the hell they've been anticipating would break loose. Tsunade sighed tiredly, and once again read through the scroll, for must have been the hundredth time since she had found it in one of the secret compartments in the Hokage's office. In the dim light from the fire the familiar somewhat messy handwriting of Sarutobi-sensei was barely visable, yet she strained her eyes to read through it once more. The secret he had written in this scroll was only meant for her own and Jiraiya's eyes, but she had not showed her former teammate the scroll yet. He needed to focus on the horrible task they had before them, and she knew him well enough to know that letting him in on this would only cause him want to kill something. That was the last thing they needed right now.

"Tsu…"

Had she been anyone else she would've jumped at the sound of the voice, but as it was she merely looked up at the soft call of her name, while discretly slipping the scroll back into her backpack and in the same motion exchanging it for another one. To her right she saw Jiriya crawl out of the tent he was sharing with Kakashi and Shikamaru.

"Hey," she muttered, and opened the scroll. Trying to make it seem as though it had been the same scroll she had been reading through just moments ago.

"Why don't you get some rest? I'll keep watch."

"In a minute, I'll just read this through once more."

"You've read it so many times I'm surprised your eyes haven't started bleeding yet."

"I know that," she replied sharply, annoyed at his carefree attitude. "But we have to get this right. There will be no room for mistakes."

She hated to have to lie to him, especially when he pulled that crestfallen face at her rude answer, but she had little other choice. She'd tell him eventually, she promised herself.

Her former teammate straightened to his full height, as usual towering over most things as he did so. Few people could match Jiriya's size, and when he took full advantage of it as he was now, she could understand why enemies might find him intimidating. He had grown since their younger days, she reflected. Not only physically, but mentally. Though he was in many ways still the pervy carefree idiot she remembered, the years had given him a core of steel.

"The best way to make mistakes is to fight sluggish from exhaustion," he said softly, gazing up at the moon. Then he looked over at her again, an air of optimism in his voice. "It'll be alright,Tsunade. We'll make it alright." She almost expected him to do one of Lee's famous thumbs up of youth, but thankfully he did not.

"I hope you're right," she muttered, and stood up to hand him the scroll.

"Of course I'm right! When haven't I been right?"

She smiled despite the fact that he really rarely was right. The idiot of their little posse. Somehow she still felt reassured, so she supposed he had succeeded in that at least.

*

"Stay back!"

"But Tsunade-sama…!" one of the shinobi protested.

"I said: Stay back! All of you!" she ordered, quickly stepping up to stand before them. Begrudgingly they did as they were told, though she could tell by their body-language that they did not approve.

"Ah, Tsunade," Orochimaru's silky voice echoed in the cave, sounding amused. She had to fight down the urge to jump up to the ledge where he was standing and pummel his pretty face in with her fists. "Do you still harbour delusions of that you can beat me in battle?"

She couldn't, she knew. Not alone. Especially not now when he had his mobility back in his arms. Damned snake!

"I have no delusions." She growled. Not anymore. "But I will beat you."

"Is that so?" that smirk again. Mocking her.

She refused to answer him; there was no point in arguing with this creature, as she knew well from all of the times that she in the past had tried. Seeing Jiriya taking his spot they had previously agreed on, strengthened her resolve. They would do this. Together they'd have the power to do this.

The snake's face twisted in mocking delight.

"So it's the both of you then. My, it almost feels nostalgic."

Intent on wiping that smirk off his face once and for all, she reached into her bag and pulled out the thing that would make the difference this time around. With satisfaction she saw those slanted, yellow eyes widen, and she caught a glint of fear in them.

"How did you…" he hissed, so much like the snake that he was, and the monster he had become.

Never taking her eyes off him she put the repaired vessel down on the ground, and opened the stone lid.

"We repaired it, bastard." She spat back at him. Another hiss, one of rage this time, tore through his throat at this, and he launched at her. No at the vessel. Of course the bastard would go after the damn vessel; it was the one thing he feared. "Now Jiriya!" she cried, and in the same motion she did the hand signs, from the corner of her eye noting that the white haired man did the same.

Orochimaru arched mid-air as the jutsu was performed, stumbling as it wrapped around him. With a growl he whipped out, jumping back up to the ledge. Fuck, they hadn't caught him completely.

"Don't let him escape, Jiriya!" she cried, pushing the jutsu towards their old teammate, who once again stumbled, trying to get away from the energy, but this time there were no where he could run. The jutsu wrapped around him like coiling red snakes, and he gasped. His eyes were wide as he stared at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. "Gotcha…"

Gritting her teeth she put all of her power into the jutsu.

"No!" he cried, still struggling to get away, but to no avail.

"Yes." She heard Jiriya growl furiously at her side.

Orochimaru's body arched in a bow, convulsing violently, as the dust were drawn out of body. She thought she heard him scream, a short high pitch noise that bounced off the walls of the cave, and then the last of the dust was forced out. The second the last of that damned dust left him, the body faltered. He fell forwards, off the ledge and slammed into the rock with a sickening crunch before tumbling the rest of the way down to the cave floor where he remained still. She bit her lip, forcing her eyes away from him, and focusing on the dust whirling in the air now.

With trembling hands she did the last few hand signs and said: "Seal!" She put all of her remaining power into that command, and felt Jiriya do the same. For a moment she thought that they had failed once again, but then the red, snake like tendrils that had previously trapped the body whipped around at the dust. The dust seemed to try to get away, squirming uselessly as the red enveloped it to then force it back into the vessel.

The second the last of the dust was trapped in the vessel, she reached into her pocket and forced the lid into its place on the vessel.

"Seal!" God dammit seal!

And it did.

Exhausted she fell to the ground, panting and gulping in air as if she had been running for days. Suddenly her limbs felt like lead, and even keeping her eyes open felt like a struggle.

From the corner of her eye she saw a motion, and she watched silently as Jiriya heaved himself up from the ground, shaking like a leaf.

"Oro…" she heard him groan, and she watched as he stumbled to his feet and over to the still figure lying facedown on the cave floor. She watched, her whole body weak and drained from the justu they had performed, as he turned their teammate over gently, cradling him like a child in his muscular arms. "Oro… fuck… Tsu, he's… he needs medical attention…"

"Sakura," Tsunade moaned, still panting, she saw her student walk up to her. Hesitant. Confused. They probably all must be confused, she noted. "Sakura, please. I'll explain everything later."

She could sense the doubt, could see the hesitation in Sakura's eyes, but then the steel she knew so well pushed through. The girl nodded stiffly and hurried to Jiriya and Orochimaru. Tsunade felt a wave of guilt and relief flow through her. Despite it all Sakura still put her trust in her. She could only hope that the rest of the shinobi would do the same.

"Tsunade-sama."

A shinobi kneeled by her side, and she glanced up at him.

"That was quiet some jutsu there. The Third's work?" Kakashi asked softly, keeping his eyes on the, what he should still perceive, enemy.

"Yeah… " she admitted tiredly. "Kakashi, please, help me stand."

For the first time he looked down on her, and she realised that his sharingan eye was unmasked.

"Of course, Hokage-sama." He reached to help her up, and she stiffened when she heard Jiriya's voice again, sounding urgent. With some effort she turned her head towards him.

"Don't…! Why are you…!?" the white haired man stammered as Sakura slowly withdrew her hands and shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "There's nothing I can do."

"What do you mean by _'there's nothing you can do'_?" Jiriya blurted out. "You have to…!"

"Jiriya," Tsunade spoke softly, leaning heavily on Kakashi as he helped her up from the ground. Jiriya looked up, his dark eyes almost pleading. "She can't heal the dead…"

She watched the light of hope die in his eyes, and felt a gut wrenching shame tear through her. They had both hoped, obviously in vain, and now that hope was gone. Left was only that hollow place in her chest where it had resided. Perhaps that was the worst part. As long as the snake had lived, so had the hope, and now both was gone.

Jiriya nodded slowly, dropping his gaze to run it over the limp corpse in his arms.

"Isn't that odd, Tsu…?" he asked hoarsely, brushing the dark hair away from Orochimaru's face. "He looks… just like he did before…"

She nodded, feeling the exhaustion running though her even at such a small motion, she too eyeing their teammate's still face. Still pale as the death that held him in its grip, but as young as he had been when this whole horror had begun. How old had they been back then? Seventeen? Maybe sixteen? It felt like centuries ago.

"Yeah… it's odd…" she agreed with a sigh.

*

The funeral had been an even odder affair, and Tsunade suspected that amongst all of the shinobi gathered only herself and Jiriya had been the only ones actually grieving. Instead confusion had been the dominating emotion as the stood gazing at the coffin. It was, she knew, understandable. Most of the people from Konoha knew Orochimaru only as an enemy. A bogeyman come to eat their children and kill all of their loved ones. They had grown up fearing him, loathing him. It would be a long time, even when told the truth (which was a feat she didn't feel up to until she had had some rest), before people could disconnect the old image to replace it with a new. If that was even possible.

Oro had been as beautiful as always. That white face peaceful in death as he was lowered into the ground, and she and Jiriya had wept. They had both hoped, however futile and naïve it might have been, that the jutsu to drive the snake out of his body wouldn't claim his life. So naïve. Maybe it was as they said, and it hope really was the last thing to die.

She sighed softly and reclined in her chair, bringing the sake bottle to her lips once more. From the corner of her eye she could see Jiriya mimicking her motions with his own bottle. Although they have been sitting together in her office for hours no more than the occasional word had been exchanged between them. She felt herself smirk. It wasn't often either of them were at a loss for words, which Oro often had pointed out while rubbing his temples, but this time it seemed as though all words were futile. There was little left to say, and whatever little remained were not something to be spoken of tonight. She'd show him the scroll tomorrow, she decided.

She heard the sound of running feet before the door crashed open, so when it did she didn't bother turning around.

"What is it?" she grumbled out, making it clear that she didn't appreciate the interruption.

"Hokage-sama," the voice of Iruka said, sounding urgent. "There's a problem…"

"We just buried our friend not more than a few hours ago, Iruka," she heard Jiriya groan from the couch. "Can't you let two old geezers mourn in peace?"

"Who're you calling a geezer, Jiriya?" she asked, although not unfriendly. She was too drained to fight with him now anyways.

"Fine. A geezer and a hag then."

She threw a pencil at him.

"That's just… there's a problem by the grave, Hokage-sama," Iruka's voice interrupted.

They both turned to look at him, squinting in the darkness since they hadn't bothered to light a lamp.

"What kind of problem, Iruka?" she asked, feeling a cold shiver run down her spine.

The chuunin gulped nervously under their intense gazes, but didn't divert his gaze.

"The grave of Orochimaru… is empty."

*

Author's notes: Ok, there's been a loooooong time since I wrote anything… at the very least a couple of years, so I'm a tad rusty. I hope you've enjoyed the beginning of this little story anyways.

Hm, don't worry about Naruto, I love that little dobe, so he's going to be in the story, although not as the main character as I will be keeping focus more on the sannin. I'll also try to answer some question about the vessel, dust, the freaky justu thingy and all that in the next chp.

Right and don't forget to **review** so I know if there's any other questions, etc, about the story. Feedback is kinda essential for a fanfiction writer after all, so they know if they're keeping the characters somewhat IC, and so on.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: About being buried and awakenings

Main Characters: Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade

Minor Characters: Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, etc

Warnings: somewhat AU, Yaoi(eventually)

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

*

He gasped for air but in the oppressive darkness there was no oxygen left and his lungs burned like fire in his chest. Feeling panic creep upon him he tried to move, but found himself constricted in this place where the walls around him were invisible, as if the darkness itself kept him trapped. He groaned, coughing and feeling the hot air leave his dry lips. No air. There was no…. air…

The slightly groggy though entered his mind that he should let it be. That he should let the darkness claim him, so he could sleep and forget the dark. Yet even as he felt his body relax, there was something within him that refused to give in, and suddenly he could feel his hands scratching against the wood over him, weakly at first, but then more urgently. No, he refused… he could not let the darkness take over…

Somehow he managed to break the wood, and he heard a weak, hoarse cry as dirt flooded in over him. Feeling the panic in his gut again, he gave in to it, and scratched against it, pushing it aside. Up. He needed to get up. There was more dirt. So much dirt. Was there no end to it? He couldn't breath! Just when he felt his strength leaving him he felt cool, wet air against his fingertips. Using his last remaining strength he pushed on. The second he felt the chilly air against his closed eyelids he urged his head back and gulped in a breath of air into his burning lungs. He remained where he was for a while, just panting as he felt the cold rain wash down on him in increasingly heavy cascades.

Later he couldn't remember struggling the rest of the way up from the ground, but suddenly he found himself sitting next to the muddy hole from whence he had come. His head bent, as if it was too great an effort to keep it up, as braced himself against the ground with shaking, white hands. With dull, yellow eyes he watched as the rain beating down on him washed the mud away from his hands.

It was cold. So cold he could see the mist of his own breaths as they escaped him, at a calmer rate now. He was shivering from top to toe, feeling drained, feeling numb, and feeling an insane urge to run away. Forcing his head up he looked down the hill where he was, below him the village spread out. He could see the lights from the windows, speaking of warmth and safety, but that was something he no longer knew of. With aching limbs he slowly climbed to his feet, the simple, white shoes were made of fabric and didn't protect from the water or mud.

He looked down on the village again.

He couldn't go down there.

Why couldn't he? Something asked in his mind. He'd be warm there, wouldn't he?

No. there was… he couldn't go there… that wild urge to run away washed through him again, and although he couldn't run he turned away. Wrapping his arms around himself he stumbled away with his head down to protect against the rain.

Away. He needed to get away from here…

*

"What the hell is going on?" cussed Jiraiya, glaring at the hole in the ground. "Who the hell would do this?"

Tsunade didn't answer, her gaze fixed on the grave. At the mud slowly sliding into it while the rain kept pouring. It had been raining for hours now, and it still showed no sign of stopping.

"He was a sannin," she heard Kakashi reply casually. He sounded almost bored, but that was nothing unusual. "It's not odd that someone might wish to abduct his body, for the secrets it might hold. However I doubt that is the case."

"What do you mean, Kakashi?" Jiraiya asked, sounding annoyed. Obviously he hadn't figured it out yet.

"This grave doesn't look as though it was broken into," the jounin replied, pointing at the hole. "But broken out off."

There was a pause then, when only the wind blowing in the trees and the rain rattling on the ground, could be heard. From the corner of her eye she could see both Iruka and Kurenai nod their agreement to Kakashi's conclusion.

"What do you mean…?" Jiraiya's voice was low, as if he dreaded the answer. He knew, he just didn't want to think the thought.

Raising her head she looked him straight in the eye. She had to say it out loud, to make it real. It was real, and she cursed herself for not realising it sooner.

"We left him in the ground, Jiraiya," she choked out. Her throat felt constricted and dry. _They had left him in the ground!_ He'd had to claw himself out of his own grave. She felt sick at the mere thought.

Jiraiya's eyes widened with the same horror that she knew was plain to see in her own eyes.

"Shit…" he breathed out.

*

The Hokage's office was silent; despite the urgent business at hand no one seemed quite confident enough to break the silence just yet. Tsunade reclined in her chair, fighting against the sickening feeling of guilt that had emerged in her since they had arrived at the grave and the truth was clear. Closing her eyes she tried not to think of how the experience had been for her former teammate. Waking up and clawing oneself out of your own grave, the mere thought made her break out in cold sweat. Orochimaru had never really been comfortable in narrow spaces, she recalled. Not enough to be called a phobia, but he had definitely always seemed uneasy whenever they had to remain at a closed in space for any extended period of time. It had taken her and Jiraiya a long time to get the snake to admit to it, but on one occasion when they had been trapped in a narrow cell for a few days, and they had watched the snake's uneasiness grow the further they stayed it hadn't been too difficult to guess. She could still remember the relentless pacing of his feet on the cell's floor. And the way he had been wringing his hands tightly, while glaring at the walls with slightly haunted eyes. All in all the display had been almost humorously unlike his usual stoic behaviour.

"Tsunade-obaa-chan!"

She was rudely snapped from her musings but Naruto's voice as the young shinobi came busting into her office, closely followed by Sakura and Sai.

"Naruto, don't be rude, you idiot!" Sakura snapped at the blond, and shook her fist in his face. It was a motion she herself had done more than occasionally to Jiraiya, and she threw a somewhat amused glance at her former teammate, who returned it with a small smirk.

Sai, meanwhile stood watching his teammates, a somewhat curious look on his pale face as if he tried to understand the meaning of the exchange. The boy certainly had a knack for placing too much importance in these sorts of exchanges.

"What?! Sakura-chan I wasn't…!"

"Naruto, Sakura, Sai," she interrupted the argument abruptly, and without a moments hesitation the two arguing shinobi fell silent. "You have a mission."

Naruto instantly straightened, looking eager. No doubt he was hoping said mission would have something to do with Sasuke. Perhaps it would prove to in the end, giving the Uchia's doings with Orochimaru over the last few years.

"A mission? What is it?" Naruto quickly babbled. "Are we gonna find Sasuke-teme?"

"That's not quite it, Naruto," Kakashi said, and Naruto looked at his sensei, then lowered his head somewhat.

"Oh." The defeated look on his face only lasted for a few moments though, as he quickly recovered, sounding far less eager when he next spoke. "What is it then?"

"To retrieve Orochimaru." She stated bluntly.

"What?! We're gonna dig the snake back up?! We just buried him!"

In any other situation she would've found the exclamation amusing, but as it was it only served to remind her of the fact that said snake probably no more than a few hours earlier had woken up in a coffin.

"Naruto…" Jiraiya muttered, a grim look on his usually so open face. That face more than anything was probably what made the blond genin shut his mouth, as he knew that it had to be something serious for his teacher to wear such a face.

Calmer now he directed his gaze towards her, and she motioned for all of the shinobi in the office to come closer so she wouldn't have to raise her voice to explain the situation. Along with team seven and Jiraiya, there was also Shikamaru and Iruka present, and other than her and Jiriaya none of the other shinobi knew what she was about to say.

"Yes," she began. "Your mission will be to find Orochimaru."

"But…" Naruto began once more, but halted when she held up a hand.

"There's a lot that you don't know," she muttered. "Things we have been keeping a secret not only from you, but from the rest of the world as well. Other than myself and Jiraiya, only the elders and Sarutobi-sensei knew what I will tell you. "

The other shinobi kept silent, pricking their ears as she now spoke.

"Thirty-five years ago, we were on a mission to retrieve a scroll from a temple of an old snake cult. There's no need to go into the details, but there was a stone vessel there," She gestured towards the very same vessel that was now standing rather harmlessly on her desk. "and it broke. This is no ordinary vessel. It contains the dust from an exiled serpent god, and…"

"A god?!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at the vessel. "Th-that thing has a _god_ in it?!"

He wasn't the only one eyeing the vessel with equal measure of awe and fear.

"Yes, now shut up Naruto, so I can finish the story," she barked, annoyed being interrupted for what felt like the hundredth time that night. As the blond lowered his hand, falling silent once more, she continued with a sigh. "When it broke the dust sought out a new container."

"Orochimaru," Kakashi stated, and she nodded, ignoring Naruto's grumble about _'how Kakashi-sensei was allowed to talk._'

"He was… " she began, but halted as she didn't know how to proceed.

"He was dying," Jiraiya filled in. The look on his face told her that he too remembered the fear they both had felt when that damned dust had poured into their teammate, and then again when he had crumbled to the floor, barely breathing. She recalled the helplessness she had felt when none of her healing jutsus had taken effect, and the snake only seemed to grow weaker. "We brought him back to Konoha." She closed her eyes, remembering how lifeless Oro's limp form had been as Jiraiya had carried him on his back, for the near week it had taken them to return. " and Sarutobi-sensei sealed the damned thing using the same technique as was used when sealing the kyuubi. However, since the damn snake was a god and not a demon like the kyuubi, the seal gradually began to falter. We saw him change, but at first disregarded it as nothing but… some natural change in his demeanour," she recalled the cruel, mocking words he had said to her the night her brother had been killed: _'Does it really matter? Even if she did look she wouldn't be able to recognise her brother'… 'Still, kids are so excitable, especially the day after receiving such a fine present.' _ He'd said before pulling out the necklace she had given her brother on his birthday. "but then people started disappearing from the village. Civilians, shinobi of all ranks, just disappeared. You all know this, and you also know that it was Orochimaru's doing. Sandaime-sama understood what was happening, and after Orochimaru left the village he told us. "

"What was is, obaa-chan? What did sandaime-sama tell you?" Naruto asked, his eyes serious and brow furrowed.

She gazed at each and everyone of the gathered shinobi, debating how best to put this. Of course her blunt approach had always served her well in the past, she decided, why change it now? Locking her gaze on the vessel standing so harmlessly on her desk, she replied lowly: "Have you ever wondered why Orochimaru covets new bodies?"

"It's to keep up his immortality jutsu. He has to change bodies every third year," Sakura quickly answered, and the other shinobi nodded solemnly.

"The snake shed's its skin," she nodded. "That is why. A human body is not capable to hold the presence of a god, even if said god's power is greatly restricted in a human vessel. The god devours the body from within, until it needs a new vessel. "

"So in order to prevent this, the god," Shikamaru spoke up, a frown etched to his face. ", transfers its consciousness from body to body once the host has reached its limit."

"That's right."

"If that's the case, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, sounding less bored than she had heard him in a long time. "How come Orochimaru's mind was also transferred? And after the god had been drawn out the body remained Orochimaru's. He must have changed bodies at least eleven times since then."

She sighed, reaching into the desk drawer and pulled out the scroll that she had found shortly after becoming the Hokage. Ever the planning strategist the Sandaime had left it there for her to find. She handed him the scroll, deciding that it would be easier to convince them by letting them read the former Hokage's words by themselves. "This is why."

As they huddled up to read the Sandaime's last written words, she exchanged a tired look with Jiraiya. A headache had started to build up behind her right eye, and she wondered it if was due to exhaustion, emotional distress, or just the alcohol she had ingested earlier that night. Probably a mix of the three.

"I don't get it. What the heck does ' _the bond to the initial host entraps the god means of redirection_' mean?" Naruto whined after a while.

"Naruto, you idiot," Sakura sighed.

"Oh yeah? Do you know what it means?" the blond huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

Sakura glared at him and opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Kakashi yet again.

"I means that the snake god forms a bond to the first host it take possession over in order to form a strong anchor to this reality, and by doing so it also restricts its means of moving around to other hosts, as well as restricts the use of its own powers only to that which the host itself can manage. So that's why it has been trying to learn so many jutsus. As a means to gain wider access to its own powers." Kakashi handed her back the scroll and scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Am I also guessing right when I say that the reason for that the body of Orochimaru remained his own after the god had been exorcised was that all of the other hosts' souls and minds had already been devoured during the transfer?"

"Yes," she confirmed, and tucked the scroll away again. She was reluctant to throwing it away seeing as it was her old sensei's last testament to this world. Old sentimental hag, she mused at herself thoughtfully. "The body takes on the form that the soul chooses."

"Man, I wish my soul could do that," muttered Jiraiya wistfully. "I'd love to look twenty again."

She snorted, suddenly amused and smirked at him. "If your soul did that you'd never look older than five."

"A lot of babes enjoy cuddling little kids," he retorted, smirking as well as if the thought of being a five-year-old perv (all over) didn't bother him in the least.

"They also enjoy giving little pervs a good spanking."

"A spanking or two has never killed me before."

The sudden "Ewwww, Ero-sannin, enough with the mental pictures already!" from Naruto, ended their banter, and they both turned back to the other shinobis. She noted that while Naruto definetly looked ill, both Sakura and Iruka sported equally bright red blushes. Sai looked mostly mildly intrigued, while Kakashi… well it was hard to tell with the mask, but given his own perverted nature she had an idea of what he was thinking.

"Hey, don't start with that Ero-sannin thing again, brat," Jiraiya barked at his student.

"It's not my fault you're a pervert!"

Kakashi coughed. "The mission?"

"As I said before, the mission is to find Orochimaru and bring him back here. Alive." She added the last part just so they wouldn't be carried away when the time came. Years of fear and hatred was not something that could just be overlooked in the blink of an eye, and despite their best intentions it was not entirely unlikely that they in a pressured situation could react instinctively against an enemy that they so long had wished to kill. "I want you all to keep in mind though that we have no knowledge of in what mental state Orochimaru might be in at the moment. After all of these years, with that snake's mind fused to his and then… to wake up and crawl out of his own grave. I fear it's not improbable that he might precieve you as a threat. Iruka and Shikamaru, I want you to remain here. I will need help when addressing this issue to the village, as for the rest of you. You know your orders. Now go!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," they all replied in unison, quickly running out the door to gather their gear.

Before Jiraiya left he threw a serious look at her over his shoulder, and she nodded.

They'd make this alright again.

When her former teammate had also left and she was alone, she opened another drawer in her desk and pulled out another scroll. She was yet to show it to Jiraiya, but once again she had come to the conclusion that it'd be better to wait until he didn't have a mission to focus on. As it seemed now, that could be a long time. With her lips firmly pressed together in a white line she read over the words once again, as she had done so many times since she had found this along with the complicated jutsu that released Oro from the hold of that damned god. The last letter from the Sandaime. As always when she read through it she felt the anger wash over her, yet it was less wild than it had been before. Less wild, but still stronger in intensity.

"_Dear, Godaime (wh__ether it be Tsunade or Jiraiya, I believe either one of you will make a good protector of the village) there's something that came to my attention that you deserve to know. It will not be something easily accepted in your heart but…"_

Not something easily accepted in their hearts? I actuality it hadn't been something that surprised her at all, and now that she knew what Sarutobi-sensei had known she intended to make sure those bastards would be held accountable for their actions.

*

Author's notes: Ok, second chapter finished! Gawd, I had forgotten how much I hate to write down longwinded explanations! I hope it was enjoyable anyway, and that it straightened out at least a few question marks about this story – I'll try to keep the longwinded explanations to a minimum in the future, but for this chp it really was needed I think.

Don't forget to **REVIEW**! XD It makes me happy and feeds my inspiration and lust to write.


	3. Chapter 3

The Serpent God

Chapter 3: About fears and bulky old men you find on the road

Main Characters: Jiriya, Orochimaru, Tsunade

Minor Characters: Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, etc

Warnings: somewhat AU, Yaoi(eventually)

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

*

It was so cold. This existence was so cold, he thought tiredly as he lay on his side, hugging himself with trembling arms, instinctively trying to keep the chill from reaching his bones. The exhaustion didn't deter the cold either, but rather seemed to make it more pronounced, as if the chill not only came from outside, but also from the inside. He didn't know how long he had been lying here now, curled up like a child in the corner of the deserted old barn. The air smelled strongly of mould, and old faeces that had gathered in the chinks between the wood.

He thought he had slept some out of pure exhaustion, but the sleep had been light and hardly restful, instead only serving to give him a pounding headache. Closing his eyes again now, they too ached. Burned.

The next time he opened his eyes dawn had come, spreading a pale, golden light that broke into the darkness through the broken windows of the building. He lay still for a while, watching the light, and wondering if it had not been better for him to have remained in the dark of the tomb. The light never had been his friend. Of course, none had ever been his friend it seemed. As the gold disappeared from the light, and the light seemed to gain the same chill as the air, he struggled from his place in the corner. His legs felt weak underneath him, and he walked slowly out of the barn.

As he stepped out on the muddy ground outside, he lifted his head with some difficulty, feeling how the tendons in his neck protested even at such a slight movement. Surrounding him was nothing but forest and silence. He closed his eyes, tilting his head slightly as he listened to the silence. Nothing. He could hear nothing. Or rather, he could hear nothing of any importance. There were the sounds that always came with a forest, the distant vibrations of birds chirping, and animals scurrying around hunting for their breakfast, but no signs of persuers. Still he couldn't remain here for long he knew. They'd soon be after him.

Again he lowered his head, succumbing to the gravity as it seemed like it was intent on forever pulling his head down, and began to walk again.

*

Finally they were on their way, jumping from branch to branch as they followed the small dog that lead the way. Still it was going far too slow in his opinion, due to the fact that the dog had to stop and confirm the trail every so often. It was grating on his nerves, and every time he had to stop himself from punching the closest tree.

They had even been slow getting started, since they had had to wait for rather a long while before Kakashi's summoned ninja dogs returned, Pakkun reporting that they had indeed picked up on a scent. Thought the small dog had appeared somewhat hesitant, saying that the scent had been faint, and that the rain had further masked the scent of the snake. Of course snakes didn't have a strong scent to go after to begin with, he had added rather haughtily, as if the thought of a creature with a faint smell was rather despicable to the dog.

"Are you sure you want to go after this snake, Kakashi?" the leader of the hounds had asked.

"The Hokage has ordered us to," the copy nin had answered lazily, masking his own thoughts on the matter. "As it is I would say we have no other choice."

The dog had snorted. " I don't trust a creature who barely give of a scent. Snakes are shifty, Kakashi, and should never be trusted."

How many times had he not heard people say that? Not only after Orochimaru had left, but long prior to it as well. Throughout their childhood he could remember the looks of distrusts that had always seemed to be directed at his teammate, and most of those glares and whispers had not come from enemies, but from the people from their own village. He had not reflected on it back then, being the hot headed brute that he had been (and still was in many ways, he admitted to himself), but now he couldn't help thinking about how those glares must have felt for the snake and he felt a tingle of anger at the thought. The people of Konoha had had no problem casting Orochimaru into the battles of the wars that had been waged back in their youth, had had no problem with him risking his life for their safety, but if he ever dared to try to go beyond that all he'd receive were hateful looks and angry whispers behind his back.

Back then he had never understood why his teammate had been so gloomy or snide towards the people in his own village. No wonder really, was it? Had it been him… he had no idea how he'd have reacted. Probably stupidly. Bellowing on the top of his lungs at the people who dared to cast him such looks of distaste. Smiling he threw a look over his shoulder at his blond student, and admitted to himself that he'd probably would have reacted much like Naruto had. Though probably a tad more perverted, as was his nature.

Of course Orochimaru was very different from either himself or Naruto.

"Jiraiya-sama."

"Huh?" he blinked, and turned his head towards Sakura who had called on his attention.

Pretty girl that one, he admitted, though a tad too flat for his taste. Naruto didn't seem to mind though, but his student never really did get the finer points of the female physilogicly did he? Not much of a pervert in the making… sometimes Jiraiya couldn't help but feel like he had failed somehow in Naruto's sex-education. Still it had been enjoyable to drag the brat along to one of his favourite bars, "The Funhouse". He snickered as he remembered the shade of red his student's face had got when the busty bartender Yuka had told him that "if you wish for some other satisfaction, just you call on me." Sometimes he wondered if Naruto ever acted on that invite… probably not… his student was an idiot.

"Jiraiya-sama?"

"Oh, right. Sorry about that, my mind wandered. What is it, ?" he asked a bit sheepishly.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, as if she wondered into what thoughts his mind had wandered. Geez, it wasn't as if he had been thinking about her. Not specifically, or rather excplicitly, anyway. Tsunade must have warned her of him.

"I was wondering…" she began, obviously deciding to give him the benefit of a doubt. Well that was something he wasn't used to, normally women tended to believe that he had nothing but smut on his mind. Of course, a lot of the time that might be true, but still it was kinda insulting. "…if you have any idea of what we might encounter once we catch up?"

"Eh, Oro of course," he answered, frowning as he landed on yet another branch and leaped the next instant.

"Yeah, but…" she sighed, as if she had to keep herself from shaking her head. "Tsunade-sama said that we should be careful right? Because she wasn't sure about what mental state he might be in."

"Oh, that!" he laughed. "No need to worry, Sakura-san. Oro's a weird little guy, and can be nuttier than a fruitcake, but I don't think we need to worry. He's stronger than he looks."

"But you haven't actually met _him_ since you were teenagers, Jiraiya-sama," she argued, frowning at him in a manner that looked spookily like Tsunade. Damn, those two had spent way too much time together. "And during that time he has been… possessed by a god, and who knows the kinda things he might've been up to for the last thirty-five years."

"Bah, no need to worry! It'll be alright," he insisted, laughing again, before leaping ahead of them and closer to Kakashi and Pakkun who were at the front of the pack. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with Kakashi-san!"

*

"Damn…" Sakura muttered, resisting the urge to hurl something at the sannin. Preferably something large and hard that could actually make an impact in his fat skull.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, sounding concerned.

"Jiraiya-sama…" she growled, closing her hands into fists.

"What about Ero-sannin?"

"He's too optimistic, and won't listen to reason."

"Heh, yeah. That's Ero-sannin's way," Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, well this time it could be dangerous. Orochimaru killed Sandaime, and although he may have had that god in him, we don't know to which extent the snake god was the one in control. Besides even if it was there's no telling what mental state he's in. He's had that snake in him for thirty-five years. "

"I dunno Sakura-chan, I don't like that bastard and I'll never forgive him for taking Sasuke, but Ero-sannin knows him right? He wouldn't be so optimistic unless he was sure!" Naruto countered.

"Hokage-sama should know him too. They were all teammates." Sai interrupted in his usual monotone. "She warned us not to approach this too lightly."

"But…!"

"Sai's right, Naruto. Even if Jiraiya-sama don't want to admit it there's a chance that the Orochimaru we're hunting down is nothing like the one they knew. Just remember how Gaara-san was when we first met him. I think Jiraiya-sama is telling himself that if he just finds Orochimaru everything will be fine afterwards. They were friends Naruto, just like… Sasuke-kun and you…" she said the last part very softly. It was always hard to speak of their teammate, and everytime she tried she felt her throat automatically closing up.

Naruto lowered his head, frowning as he considered this, and the next time he looked up a determined look was in his blue eyes.

"In that case it's our job to make sure that Orochimaru don't get away!" he grinned. "And that he don't get a chance to hurt Ero-sannin."

*

"Hey there, little lady."

Orochimaru stopped and slowly looked up from the muddy road, and looked with dull, yellow eyes at the two men standing in front of him. Quite big both of them, and both wearing tattered clothes. His gaze lingered briefly on the swords they bore at their hips, and wondered how apt fighters they were. Perhaps they could release him from this existence.

"What are you doing out here, all alone? Got lost in the storm?" the larger of the men asked with a grin.

"We could help you out, little lady," the other one added, a leer on his face. "For a price that is…"

Orochimaru looked back down on the ground, and slowly walked forward, and past the two men, just to be yanked back by his arm.

"Hey,hey, there, little lady," the man sneered. "Don't you recognise an invite when you hear it?"

He slowly looked up from the ground to the hand grasping his arm, and further up to the man's face. The man's face stiffened, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. The next second he felt the man's other hand reach down and fumble around at his crotch. A crooked smirk appeared on his face. "Heh, you're not a woman at all… just a girly boy. Not to worry, little princess, we're not that picky…"

The man's eyes widened in chock, and then he gazed with disbelief at the sword that was suddenly and firmly planted in his chest. He made a gurgling sound as he stumbled, and fell into a heap on the ground.

Orochimaru heard a roar behind him, and without letting his gaze wander away from the fallen man on the ground he swung the sword he had taken from the other man's hip, and in one clean stroke slashed his attacker's throat.

He heard a soft thump as that man too fell to the ground, but he didn't bother to look back at him.

*

Author's notes: Ah, finally some Oro action. Not to long a chapter this one, but hey, I just got back to writing at all so give me a break :P Anyhow I do hope you like it!

Thanks to all the people who has reviewed so far, it makes it worth writing this crap XD Don't forget to **review** this chapter too (if you wanna make me happy that is ;)

Oh right, and I added some stuff in the 2nd chp, just the last few lines, since I forgot to add them earlier.


	4. Chapter 4

The Serpent God

Chapter 4: Finding your killer

Main Characters: Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade

Minor Characters: Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Gaara, Neji etc

Warnings: somewhat AU, Yaoi(eventually)

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

*

Gaara ran through the blooming garden, his breath coming out in uncharacteristic short gasps of fear as he tried to draw oxygen into his lungs. The chilling fear running through him, making his limbs feel sluggish, stood in stark contrast to the surrounding garden, with garish flowers growing on each bush, and heavy, red apples hanging from every tree. The green grass felt soft under his bare feet. Diving behind a bush he tried to still his panting, and he desperately racked his brain for his shinobi skills. He drew a blank.

The sand had abandoned him, and as he crouched behind the bush trying to think of a plan to escape his enemies, who were the likes of which he had never seen before, he felt very much alone. Abandoned by everyone; his siblings, his village, all of them had cast him out. His heart was pounding in his chest, beating harder still when he heard the rasping voice of the leader of his pursuers.

"Stop!" There were the sound of stomping slowing to a halt, and he held his breath as he hoped that they hadn't found out his hiding spot. That bastard seemed to have some kind of sixth sense when it came to tracking him down. "He's around here. Split up, men, and find him!"

Gaara had to bite his lip not to bolt the second he heard the stomping resume, reminding himself that he'd be an easier prey if they spotted him now. Soon, to his great relief, the stomping grew distant, and he slumped down in the grass, shaking like a leaf. He had to move, he told himself. He had to get away from here before they returned. Taking a deep breath he turned around slowly, peeking out from behind the bush, and fell back with a loud yell.

"Ah, there you are, little rabbit!" the leader roared triumphantly, and at the same time Gaara could hear rustling and stomping behind him. Jumping to his feet he spun around and realised he had been surrounded. The sounds of evil cackling made him whip his head around, again facing the leader. "There's no escape, little rabbit! Now we'll make you…fabulous!" the giant red, high heeled shoe screeched, and launched at him. Gaara fell back with a cry, and suddenly they all jumped at him; a tsunami of black, purple, red, yellow, and silver ladies shoes that blackened the sky.

"NO!" he cried, and fell out of his bed with a thump. As he lay on the cold stone floor, staring at the underside of the bed, he could feel his heart thumping madly in his chest, and he was still panting. Just a dream, he thought distantly. It was just a… fucking dream! After the initial rush of relief, a surge of anger ran through him. God damn dream! He hated dreams! He hated sleeping! Why the hell would people want to put themselves through this shit?!

"Gaara?" his brother's voice came from the door, and by the ray of light sneaking into his room, he figured Kankurou had opened the door to check on him. Had he been that loud? "Ya ok there, little bro?"

Angrily struggling to sit up, Gaara glared across the room at his older brother.

"Heh? What's with the pout? And why are ya on the floor?"

Intensifying his glare, Gaara replied: "Fell off the bed… shut up."

Kankurou was grinning, but at least kept from laughing him in the face as he had done the first time this had happened. Probably mostly due to the fact that he had been dodging sand projectiles for the next thirty minutes after that, until Temari had intervened.

"Come on, Gaara. Let's get down to the kitchen, Temari's making breakfast," Kankurou said quickly, his voice thick with barely contained glee at Gaara's misfortune.

Gaara grunted in reply, and pushed himself to his feet. He rubbed his eyes, something he had found quite necessary after sleeping, and reached for a shirt. After slipping it on he pushed past his brother, probably a bit more forceful than he needed to, and walked ahead of him downstairs.

"Good morning, Gaara," Temari greeted him as he came into the kitchen. "Sleep well?"

Again he only grunted in reply and took a seat by the table, deciding that other people's unnatural interest in his sleeping habits were annoying.

"He fell out of bed," Kankurou chimed in helpfully, grinning like the idiot he was, and Gaara glared at him again.

"Again?" Temari smirked. For some reason his sleeping problems seemed to bring his siblings a lot of mirth, and he felt his cheeks heat up. Dammit, he was blushing… it was yet another one of those things, much like his dreams, that he had no control over, and it annoyed him. "What was it this time? Giant pink bunnies trying to hug you?"

It was a joke to them, Gaara grumbled in his mind as he crossed his arms over his narrow chest and glared at them both.

"No." he answered curtly. Since Shukaku had been drawn from his body, these two had been getting increasingly bold towards him. At first he had just figured it had been due to the fact that directly after his revival his powers had been weak. It had taken him weeks until he had been able to draw enough chakra to use his sand for anything but picking up lighter objects, and even now nearly six months later he was still far from at his full strength. Anyhow he was still stronger than either of them, and yet neither of them had given up their task of teasing him. It was infuriating.

"I bet it was a wet dream," Kankurou said sagely, wincing slightly when Temari hit him on the arm.

Gaara blinked."What's a wet dream?"

Kankurou blanched, staring at him with wide eyes. Temari laughed.

"Yeah, Kanky, what's a wet dream? Why don't you enlighten us?"

"Eh… eh… ah… well…" Kankurou began, as a bright red blush rose on his cheeks. He continued stammering for a few moments before he threw his arms in the air and exclaimed: "Oh hell no! I ain't doing this! "

With a huff he fled from the room, muttering something about _'damn redhead, not knowing shit.'_ Temari laughed heartily at him as she took the eggs she was frying from the pan, and scoping them up on a couple of plates, sat down across from Gaara. She handed him a plate, before taking a bite of her own egg, and sighed.

"Well, a wet dream, Gaara, is…" she began, but stopped midsentence when he held up a hand.

"I know what a wet dream is,Temari." he interrupted her, before stuffing a piece of egg into his mouth. It wasn't too burnt. She had improved her cooking skills. Or perhaps it was just a fluke. "I wasn't born under a damn rock."

His sister looked surprised. "But then why did you ask?"

Gaara looked up at her, careful to keep his face expressionless, and she promptly burst out laughing.

"Oh, that's just evil, Gaara…"

*

He had only been at the office for about an hour, when there was a knock on the door. Looking up from the paperwork, he called out: "Enter."

"Kazekage-sama," the anbu who came inside greeted with a bow, and held out a scroll. "You have received a message from Hokage-sama."

Gaara stood, and took the scroll from the other shinobi. When he had read it though he turned to the anbu again.

"Send for my siblings, and Baki-san. I need to speak to them."

*

The restaurant of the hotel was loud, smoky and dimly lit, filled to the brim with brutes, all of whom seemed to feel the need to roar louder than everyone else in the room as if that would somehow make their masculinity more pronounced. Orochimaru kept the hood of the coat he'd taken from one of the corpses of the men he had killed, up and thus his face hidden while he huddled in the corner of the room. In front of him there was a bowl of some concoction he could not identify, and he ate slowly, swallowing it down without tasting it.

It was warm in the room, and the chill he had been feeling since… waking up, had began to drain from his body, only leaving behind a dull ache in his bones. So when he had finished eating the broth of unidentified goo he remained where he was, curling up to feel more of that warmth. Perhaps he had dosed off, he couldn't tell, but suddenly he felt something touching him. Instinctively he pulled out the sword he had taken from the man he had killed, and lashed out at the offending hand that seemed to be digging through his pockets.

"What the fuck?!" he heard a man roar, and when his eyes snapped in that direction, he saw a bulky man a few feet back, clutching onto his bleeding hand.

The man must have been trying to rob him of the money he had taken from those men, he decided but didn't bother to get up from his seat.

"Ya little shit!" the man hissed, as he pulled out a kunai. "I'll get ya for that…!"

The man lunged at him, kunai swishing through the air, but it was stopped when Orochimaru blocked it with the sword. The metallic ringing was loud enough to make the rest of the brutes turn their attention their way, and for a second the room fell silent. Then it erupted into shouts once more, but still their attention was fixed on them, transfixed to see who killed who no doubt. As he was pushed back against the wall by the man's greater weight, the man's grinning face inches from his, the notion that he could just drop the sword and let that be his end ran through his head. It was tempting, so tempting. He felt his eyelids flutter close, and the strength leave his arms. The edge of the kunai touched his throat.

No.

His eyes snapped back open. He refused to let himself die like this, killed by some weakling brute who robbed those weaker, and even then seemed to wait until they were unable to defend themselves. His grip on the sword tightened, and he pushed back just enough for him to be able to roll out of the man's way, underneath the table.

Swiftly he lunged out with the sword from underneath the table and impaled the man.

As he quickly climbed out from underneath the table he could already hear the man's gurgling, soon to be dead.

"Kioshi!" someone shouted in fury. "The little fucker killed Kioshi!"

"Get him!" another voice joined in, and the next thing Orochimaru knew he was assaulted. Probably by the killed man's friends, he figured as he dodged another kunai and sliced up the belly of one of his attackers.

By the time the last of the brutes fell with a cry, clutching his skewered stomach, the rest of the people in the place had fled. In the aftermath of battle the room seemed almost spooky silent, and the only sounds to be heard were the whimpering of those who had not yet died from their injuries.

A crash of something smashing against the floor made him look behind him, and he saw the barkeep come to a halt, slowly looking over his shoulder at him. The fat man cringed when he saw that he had noticed him, and tried to flee. Before he could reach the door though, Orochimaru yanked out a kunai from one of the bodies and threw it. The barkeep jumped back with a scream when the knife swished by his face and buried itself in the very door he had tried to run for.

He watched as the man's eyes darted about trying to find another way out, finding none. When he stepped closer the barkeep stiffened, and looked at him with wide terrified eyes.

"W… what do you want? I have money…! Take it all!"

Orochimaru shook his head, stepping up so he was at arm's reach from the man.

"Who is the strongest shinobi around that you know of?" he asked, and his voice came out in a mere whisper, hoarse and rough from not being used in so long.

"Huh?" the barkeep blinked, looking dumber by each passing moment.

Orochimaru gave him a steady look, silently daring him to ask him to repeat himself, and the man flushed in fear. As sweat broke out on his forehead the man began to stutter a nervous reply.

"Y… you, young sir…!"

Swiftly pointing his sword at the man's throat Orochimaru stared at the man.

"I am not fishing for cheap flattery," he hissed at the man's red face. "Give me the name of the strongest shinobi around these parts."

"I… I guess…" the fat man began, pausing briefly to swallow and wet his suddenly dry mouth. "The Hokage of Konoha."

Orochimaru shook his head. He could not return there. His refusal of the answer he was given must have been too much for the man's bladder, Orochimaru thought when the smell of urine rose up from the man. The snake crinkled his nose in disgust and pressed the blade to the man's throat more firmly, slightly breaking the skin so a small river of blood poured down his throat.

The man gave a high pitched whine and closed his eyes as if trying to wish it all to end.

"Another name."

The man began to sob and shake, stuttering in fear as he tried to prolong his life, tried to appease the boy that very soon, and very easily could become his killer. "I… I don't know… I don't… Gaara!" he suddenly shouted as if in triumph. "Gaara of the Desert… the Kazekage of Suna… he's plenty strong. A damn beast some say!"

Gaara? Gaara of the Desert. The memory of a child with bright red hair and black rimmed eyes flashed through Orochimaru's mind. He wondered where he'd seen that child before. Was it Sabaku no Gaara? Was he strong enough… to end his existence?

If he was not, Orochimaru figured in a detached manner as he let the sword fall from the sobbing mess of a man's throat, he'd be the one killing him instead.

Without looking back at the remains of the restaurant, and of the corpses within it, he left.

*

"They're dead." Kakashi announced and stood up from where he had been crouching beside one of the dead bodies lying carelessly discarded on the road.

Jiraiya nodded solemnly.

"Do you think it was Orochimaru?" asked Sakura, frowning in a way that for some reason annoyed the toad sage. There was something she was leaving unsaid; probably to avoid a confrontation with him, but the rest of the group seemed to be picking up on that silent notion anyways.

"It could be the work of someone else of course," Kakashi replied. "But the chances are that it isn't. Jiraiya-sama," the white haired man said, sounding serious as he turned towards him. "I think we have to consider the possibility that Orochimaru is still a threat. And even if he's not, there are also reasons to believe that he may not want to return to Konoha."

"Why wouldn't he?" Jiraiya snapped even though he knew that the other man was correct. "It's his home, and we…" he stopped himself from continuing. He sounded like the idiot he had been while still a teenager. He could see the signs now, unlike when he had been younger.

"It was his home, but…" Kakashi said but Jiraiya interrupted.

"I know." Konoha had been Orochimaru's home, but that was a long time ago. Such a ridiculous long time ago, yet now it felt almost as if no time had passed. Even back then Orochimaru hadn't liked being in the village, but had much preferred being on missions, either with himself and Tsunade or alone. Anything to be away from Konoha. "I don't care," he growled, clenching his fists. "If I have to I'll drag him back kicking and screaming."

There was a long silence before Kakashi shrugged.

"Well then," he said, sounding as aloof as usual. "Should we get going again then?"

*

Author's notes: Ooops sorry about the delay on this chapter, work and that pesky x-mas shopping has been getting in the way. It may also be some time until the next chapter, due to those very same reasons, I just thought I'd let you know.

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you're all enjoying the story and the way it's going. Gaara will most probably be playing a rather large role in the story (what can I say? I'm a sucker for Gaara) though he won't be one of the main characters. Might throw him into some yaoi-ness too, but I haven't decided yet seeing as I usually prefer to focus on one couple per story. Only time will tell I suppose.

Don't forget to **review**!


	5. Chapter 5

The Serpent God

Chapter 5: Cold, cold grave

Main Characters: Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade

Minor Characters: Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Gaara, Neji etc

Warnings: somewhat AU, Yaoi(eventually)

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

*

The walk across the desert had been less than interesting, and now as he sat on top of a grand cliff, in the shade from the sun, he felt weary. Only the reassuring thought of that once he crossed this last distance to the desert village he'd soon find his rest, kept him going. So far he had easily been able to avoid any scouts from Suna, but the closer he got to his final destination the more people there would be to cross his path. Of course his senses were a great help, as they always had been when he needed to pass through somewhere unnoticed, but with so many shinobi in the vicinity there were no guarantees.

Casting one final look across the vast sand to the village that lay in the horizon, he crawled a bit further into the shade and curled up to sleep. Night would be here soon, and with it the cold. That grave like cold that ached in his bones. That was when he'd have to make his move.

*

Tsunade was walking back and forth on the floor in her office, only stopping every once in a while to restlessly look out the window. Across the rooftops of Konoha she could see the outlining of the forests' trees, sharp against the setting sun, and every time she stopped she had to fight down the urge to race over the rooftops, and through the woods to find her former teammates. How could she let Jiraiya handle this on his own? Jiraiya of all people!

Oro was a prickly individual, and sometimes to get through to him you had to play your part like you would a harp, with gentle and subtle grace. Jiraiya was about as gentle, subtle and graceful as a meteor on a collision course.

She should have gone with them, she thought again, and this time she whirled around to run at the door. Only to halt with her hand on the handle.

She couldn't. She was the Hokage. She had duties to perform. She was the most influential person in the village, yet she was trapped within these four walls like a prisoner. Tied by invisible chains to its floor.

"God damn it…!" she cussed, and punched the door hard enough to rattle it but not to break it.

Moments later the door was slowly opened, and she stepped back.

"Tsunade-sama? What are you doing?" Sizune asked, eyeing her worriedly.

"Nothing, Sizune," she muttered, turning around sharply and stomping across the room to her chair where she sat down. "Would you get me some sake? I could need some right now."

Sizune nodded, but didn't move away just yet. She was a smart woman; she knew the next question was inevitable.

"Any word?"

"Not yet, Tsunade-sama. From neither Kakashi's nor Gai's teams."

"I see…" the blond hokage muttered, gritting her teeth in rage. She should be out there, helping them.

"I'll go get the sake."

Tsunade nodded slowly, settling her chin down to rest against her hands on the desk.

She looked up when Sizune came back inside her office, with a bottle and two glasses in her hands. Tsunade raised one eyebrow, eyeing the second glass.

"I figured you'd need some company," the younger woman shrugged, as she settled down in the chair across from the desk and handing Tsunade one of the glasses.

"Thank you, Sizune."

*

They had been noticed, Jiraiya knew as he continued to race across what seemed as endless sand dunes. On the other hand they had done nothing to hide their presence, showing as plainly as possible that they did not come for a fight. So when the suna-nins decided to appear in the open, he wasn't surprised. He still felt a twinge of annoyance though, knowing every slight disruption at this point could prove to be disastrous.

"Halt!" the leader of the suna shinobi ordered, holding up a hand.

"Wow! Where did those guys come from?" Jiraiya heard Naruto exclaim as they all came to a sudden stop.

He heard Sakura groan. "Didn't you notice them? They haven't been trying to hide their presence."

"Of course I…!"

"Naruto, Sakura." Kakashi said firmly, instantly ending the blooming argument. Addressing the other group of shinobi he said: "We are from Konoha, on a mission from the Hokage."

"We know, Kakashi-san." the leader of the shinobi said, nodding. "You're in pursuit of Orochimaru. Kazekage-sama sent us to aid you should the snake-nin enter into our territory. Your presence here would entail that he has indeed crossed this path."

Good, Jiraiya thought feeling a wave of relief, perhaps this wouldn't take too long after all. Good thinking on Tsunade's part to alert that Gaara kid of the fact that they might show up. Though why Oro had decided to cross the desert was still beyond him. That bartender back there had babbled something about him asking for the strongest shinobi around, but why Oro would care to seek out battle he didn't understand. It had never been in his nature to seek out meaningless battles. He just couldn't wrap his head around it.

"And this is Jiraiya-sama."

He snapped back to attention when his name was uttered, and realised that Kakashi had been introducing them all to the other shinobi.

" Jiraiya-sama," the leader of the squad greeted with a nod. "We've all heard about you."

He shrugged easily and grinned. "It's the downside of fame I suppose. I guess my books have caught some attention."

"Your books?" the leader gave him a blank stare, and Jiraiya sighed. Why most shinobi seemed more interested in his youth as a shinobi than the wonderful tales of the many beauties he had come across since was beyond him. Why gossip about battles and such when you could read about sweet, sweet loving?

"The Icha-icha novels, Haki-sensei," another of the suna-nin spoke up, instantly re-inflating Jiraiya's ego.

"Icha-icha?"

"Well yes… it's a series of novels about… eh…" the younger shinobi tried to explain while blushing.

"It's written porn." A female shinobi said tonelessly, and Jiraiya had the feeling she was rolling her eyes underneath the shear mask she wore to cover her face.

"Porn?" he exclaimed, feeling somewhat insulted. "I'll have you know young lady, it is not porn. It's the result of timeless hours of research about the female body, soul and mind."

"Porn." She replied stubbornly.

He growled, and was about to correct her once more, but was interrupted.

"Be that as it may," Kakashi said lazily. "We have a mission."

Jiraiya instantly felt his anger disappear, and it was once more replaced by that feeling of if he didn't move quickly he'd be too late. Too late for what he didn't know.

"Right. We should get going," he nodded, already taking a step forth.

"Wait." The leader, Haki, said, again holding up a hand.

"We don't have time to wait," he replied hurriedly. The sun was already setting. Knowing Oro he'd make his move once it was dark.

"Just one last precaution. Here. " The leader said, holding up a small jar. "Hold out your hand."

Doing as he was told he watched as the younger man poured out some white powder in his hand, before moving on to do the same to the rest of their team.

"What is this?" he asked, sniffing the white powder.

"Gah! It's salt!" Naruto exclaimed almost simultaneously, before starting to sprit on the ground.

"Eat it," the woman said seriously. "Then drink water. The heat takes a toll on the body, and the first things the body needs to keep running is salt and water. Without it you can die."

"Die?!" Naruto blanched.

"It's just as a precaution." Haki-san replied calmly while pouring some of the salt into Kakashi's palm. "There are still some hours before we reach Sunagakure, and as Juna said the heat takes a toll on the body. We'd much rather not have to carry you through the last remaining distance."

"Oh… fine…" Naruto muttered, before swallowing down the salt. "Ouch, gross! Water!"

*

The last distance to Sunagakure had indeed taken some time to cross, yet he had managed it without being spotted. Now sitting perched on a small ledge to the wall surrounding the village he silently contemplated whether that statement had been true or not, for only moments earlier the same boy his mind identified as Gaara no Sabaku had come walking out to stand below him, facing the desert.

Had he been spotted after all?

His instincts told him that he hadn't been, yet how else was he to explain this?

Still, if he had been spotted there should be more shinobi around, and just by listening to the vibrations of the rock he could tell that there were none, except for the usual guards. They wouldn't throw the kazekage out to fight their battles. The kazekage was the village in many ways, and a village lacking one was weak. Therefore it was every shinobi's goal to protect the kage as he would the village.

"I know you're there."

Orochimaru tilted his head to the side, eyeing the boy from his spot on the wall. Perhaps he hadn't been spotted by the average shinobi, but this boy did seem to have somehow found out about his presence. Perhaps it was the sand. He had a dim recollection of that this boy had the ability to control sand, and the desert consisted of mostly that.

Jumping down from the wall he landed just a few meters away from the kage, and the boy looked at him from underneath red bangs.

"Why are you here?" Gaara asked, his face a pale mask under the light of the moon. Not quite as white as his own skin, no one was ever that pale, but probably not far from it.

"You know who I am?" he replied, ignoring the question.

"Orochimaru. You killed my father."

Orochimaru tilted his head to the side, trying to remember such an event, but nothing came to mind.

"He was the forth kazekage." The boy added.

He did remember that, to some degree. Slowly he nodded.

"Have you come to harm this village?"

Orochimaru contemplated this, gazing at the moon above them. Had he come to harm the village? It depended on how you defined the village. The kage was the village. Of course he didn't intend to harm the brat either, unless he proved to be completely useless at battle. It was all up to definition.

Sighing he shrugged.

The next moment he had to dodge as sand shot forth, straight at him. He jumped back quickly, drawing his kunai as he once more dodged the sand, and threw it at the boy. He wasn't surprised when a wall of sand instantly moved up to block the kunai, and he felt a slight wave of relief. Soon he could let this end.

*

"Haki-sensei!" the young shinobi cried out, pointing towards the horizon where the outlining of Sunagakure could be spotted.

"I know, Oba." The leader barked back. "It's kazekage-sama."

"Gaara?" Naruto panted next to him. "Gaara's fighting?"

No one answered. Jiraiya barely heard him, his attention firmly fixed on the village in the distance. If that Gaara kid was fighting it didn't take a genius to figure out who he was fighting against.

"Damn," he cussed, willing his legs to move faster to get there in time. He couldn't be too late. Couldn't fail. Not again!

*

The kid certainly had some skill, Orochimaru thought as he avoided the sand once more. Quickly rolling on the ground he got back up, and jumped up on one of the sand pillars that were chasing him. Speeding up the moving pillar he could feel the sand trying to grasp at his feet, only barely missing its target, and he jumped away from the sand, straight at Gaara. Twisting mid-air he quickly made the hand signs he had decided upon moments later, and from his hands rushed a jet of water.

He saw the boy's eyes widen, but he was too close to the water. The only choice he had was to raise his sand shield, or be hit by the water himself.

Drawing his kunai once more Orochimaru hit the ground, and just as quickly jumped away from it towards the shield. He kicked at the shield. It broke easily once wet and brittle, just as he had anticipated, and he felt his foot hit its target moments before the boy was thrown back by the force of his kick.

Gaara rolled as he hit the ground, quickly getting back up on his feet, and just as smoothly drew his own kunai to block the one Orochimaru hurled at him. Orochimaru ran, and jumped again to avoid the sand still speeding after him, quickly running up the wall of Sunagakure.

Another water-jutsu gave him a brief reprieve, as he was perched on top of the wall.

A movement from the corner of his eye made him instantly jump back from where he was perched, landing behind the shinobi that had tried to stab at him with a kunai.

A guard, he figured as he kicked the young shinobi in the back of the head, sending the fool sprawling over the ledge of the wall. And two others, he added, when he was once more attacked. They were no threat though, mere children really, and he easily kicked one in the gut, while wrenching the kunai away from the other and stabbing him in the shoulder with his own weapon.

Stupid children.

But loyal, he thought as more guards came rushing down the walls at him.

"Stand down." The order was spoken lowly, but the effect was instant as the guards stopped in their tracks.

Orochimaru glanced to the right, seeing the young kage standing mid-air on the very sand that he had previously used as a weapon. It seemed it had many uses indeed. Wrapped up in some of that floating sand lay the limp form of the guard that he had kicked down the wall earlier. Brat must have caught him before he hit the ground.

"But kazekage-sama…!" one of the guards argued.

"Stand down." Gaara repeated firmly.

The guards seemed to get the message, because the guards backed down somewhat although they still stood stiffly, ready to attack if they needed to. Nodding once the kage stepped over onto the wall, bringing the unconscious guard with him.

"See to their wounds." He said, still not looking away from Orochimaru. Now as they stood across from each other, no more than a few meters away from each other the snake noted a dark bruise on the boy's cheek. A sharp contrast against his otherwise pallid features.

No matter, he decided as he threw another kunai at the boy, at the same time jumping over the wall to the ground below to avoid the sand. He didn't have time for interruptions, he thought as he rolled on the ground, avoiding the sand reaching for him and slashing the tendrils of sand apart with a kunai. Suddenly he felt weary. He wanted the end he had searched for. The days since he woke up felt like decades.

The boy was after him, his sand even quicker than he was, and he had to run. Blocking another set of sand projectiles with his kunai, he jumped up into the air. Another water justu made the sand coming after him crumble before they reached him, and he did another set of hand signs.

Ice crystals, as sharp as any blade, flew from his hands. Hundreds of them, and tiny. Impossible to avoid. The sand shield the boy had was still wet, and too slow to cover him completely, making the boy grimace as the crystals struck his arm and drew blood that splattered on the sand.

Orochimaru almost smiled, but then suddenly the air was knocked out of him as he was struck painfully by sand coming from the ground. He hit the ground hard, rolled, but even as he did so he could feel the sand wrapping around him. Almost like snakes he mused.

And then he felt it. The sand moving underneath him. He looked down; a silent relief running through him as the sand whirled, engulfing him. A sudden pull and he was covered to the neck down in sand. He looked up at the boy once more, before closing his eyes and revelling in the sensation of being pulled down. Back to where he should've stayed.

The sand was freezing around him, cold as the grave and he gasped, just to have sand pour into his mouth, choking him. He coughed, grimacing at the pain as the sand scratched his throat from the inside.

His body instinctively tried to fight back, but he knew that unless he used jutsu to free himself he'd have no chance. Soon he could rest. The sand tightened around him, stilling his body. Crushing him in a death grip.

Soon.

He felt lightheaded, probably from lack of oxygen, and he… was falling…

Suddenly something grabbed him, pulling at him, and his eyes flew open. He quickly shut them again when the sand got in his eyes. But that thing kept pulling at him, dragging him back up, and he tried to fight back.

He tried to scream for that thing to stop. To let him be, but it kept dragging him up. He didn't want to go back up there. He wanted to lie in his cold, oppressing grave. Rest. Why couldn't he be allowed to rest?

He bit down on the object trying to drag him back up into that night, and for a second he felt its grip slacken. But then it tightened again, and he bit harder, breaking skin he supposed for his mouth was filled with copper tasting blood. A hand, he thought dimly. Someone was dragging him back up.

Why couldn't it just let him be? He thought before everything went dark, and he cursed whoever it was that was pulling him back up, before he lost consciousness.

*

Author's notes: Gah, this was a pain to write. I'm not all that good at writing action scenes, I personally I don't enjoy reading about them too much either, but this was something I couldn't avoid. Had to be done to get on with the story. I hope it's not too terrible.

Oh, and thanks to all of you who has read this so far, and also to those who've reviewed. It makes me happy to know you're enjoying the story so to anwer Maria who left a review for the last chapter: Yep, I'm thinking it was Oro who was the victim that time around XD Not too sure if he knows that though.


	6. Chapter 6

The Serpent God

Chapter 6: New arrivals

Main Characters: Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade

Minor Characters: Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Gaara, Neji etc

Warnings: somewhat AU, Yaoi(eventually)

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

*

He looked so drawn, Jiraiya thought as he gazed down on the still body on the bed. Of course Oro had always been pale, and rather delicate looking due to his height and slim body, but the delicateness had also always been hidden behind the natural strength that shone through by his very nature. Now he looked… drained. As if someone had tapped him of that strength and only left enough behind to let him keep breathing.

He had not yet regained consciousness since Jiraiya had pulled him out of the dirt, so the white haired man remained by his side. Waiting for those white eyelids to flutter open.

The Suna nins had not wanted to treat Orochimaru for his injuries, only when the kazekage had surprisingly given an order to treat him had they grudgingly relented. They had however insisted on restraining him, so now thick leather cords were wrapped around his former teammate's wrists and ankles, trapping him to the bed. It wasn't just leather, he knew. They were enhanced with chakra and difficult to break.

Not impossible. But it would take some time and effort.

Jiraiya leaned back in his chair and rested his head heavily against the backrest and felt his stiff muscles ache at even such a minor movement. He should sleep, his body and mind needed rest, but that very same mind was what kept him from resting. His mind was reeling with thoughts, trying to interpret his friend's reasoning behind getting into an unnecessary fight. He could understand why Oro had left Konoha after breaking out of his grave; he supposed he wouldn't exactly feel welcome there. This was the bitter, harsh truth. But why go to Suna? Oro had never been one to back down from a fight, but he had also never been one to seek them out.

And, he thought and raised his hand up to look at his bandaged hand, he had bit him when he had grabbed him and pulled him up. Why would he…?

His thoughts were interrupted when the door to the room was opened and he looked up.

"Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi said, leaning against the doorpost lazily. "Some people have arrived that you should meet."

*

Gaara was sitting behind his desk, silently regarding the other people in the room. Ordinarily a suna nin wouldn't have been allowed to listen in on this meeting, he knew, as it would not doubt entail some serious matters of the Konoha village, but yet another letter from the Hokage had instructed them all that Gaara and his siblings were allowed to attend, and learn the secrets behind the fact that Orochimaru was currently being treated in their infirmary. And also why there was an old Konoha ninja standing in chains in his office.

The new arrivals had arrived at his office mere ten minutes ago, and Gaara recognised most of them. Four of them had been present during the mission to save him from the Akatsuki six months ago, he recalled, but he had trouble remembering their names. The elderly man in chains he had never met before, as far as he knew.

While he sat silently regarding the four Konoha nins, they spoke lowly amongst themselves. He didn't interrupt them, judging by their expressions it was some last minute planning going on. Were they discussing what to tell their friends once they arrived? It was possible, if the Hokage had given specific orders about a mission the ninjas executing it were bound not to speak of certain things concerning it. Even to their own.

Eventually they all nodded seriously towards each other, and had obviously reached a decision. As soon as they had one of them turned towards him, a wide grin on his round face. Rock Lee, he was the only one he could remember the name for, given their history.

"So, how have you been, Gaara-kun?" he exclaimed, a bit too loudly and quickly walked across the room to stand on the opposite side of Gaara's desk.

Gaara blinked; looking up into Lee's round eyes, shining with… he couldn't describe it. Those eyes were so unlike his own. Bright and filled with… a zest for life? Was that what they called it?

"Hey, Gaara-kun? Are you alright? You look a little ill." The green clad shinobi continued a look of concern on his face. "Is your youthfulness getting the better of you?"

Gaara mentally shook himself. He never knew how to speak to people like this, people so much different from himself in nature. A word in Lee's babble did catch his attention though, and he frowned, not sure what the other shinobi was referring to but still curious against his better judgement.

"My youthfulness?"

Obviously delighted by finally getting a response from the silent kazekage, Lee brightened: "Your passion of youth! The very core of your being!"

Gaara shook his head. How did you respond to such a statement? He was pretty certain that the core of his being wasn't all that youthful, nor filled with passion. Luckily he didn't have to answer the insane questioning, as the sound of running feet reached his ears, and he glanced away from Lee just in time to see the door to his office burst open.

"Neji!" Naruto's exclaimed the second the blond bundled inside. "And Ten-ten, Gai and Bushy brows! They're all here, Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto, don't just go running into the kazekage's office unannounced, you idiot!" the pink haired shinobi barked, as she seconds later ran in after him and knocked him none too gently on top of the head. "It's not polite!"

"Ouch! Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined, rubbing the spot where she had hit him. "Gaara don't mind. Do you, Gaara?"

Why was he dragging him into this? Gaara wondered, frowning.

"Heh? Why do you look so grim, Gaara?"

Why was everyone questioning his looks?

"Yeah, little bro. Try for a smile once in a while," Kankurou chimed in, as he strolled into the office, grinning in that annoying way that recently had Gaara wanting to bash his brains out with his sand.

The silent man that came in after his brother, he recognised as Sai, another one of those who had arrived with Naruto the other day. He seemed to listen intently to the conversation, as if he was expecting to uncover a great secret from the inane words.

"Hey, Neji!" Naruto was asking suddenly. "What are you guys doing here?" And then his eyes drifted to the man in chains, and he exclaimed, pointing. "And what the hell is _he_ doing here?!"

"And why is he in chains?" Sakura added, eyeing the bound man suspiciously.

Obviously they knew him, Gaara thought, quite content with their focus being drawn away from him.

The four newly arrived shinobi exchanged a look between each other, before the taller of the green clad men responded: "Orders from the Hokage."

He was Lee's sensei, Gaara recalled. He had saved his student's life back then, when Gaara had tried to kill him. He had not been able to understand that action back then, he thought. The need to help someone precious to you. Since then he had grown to understand it, at least on some level.

"Hey, Gaara." Kankurou said, close to his ear now, as the foreign shinobi continued to talk. "You seem thoughtful today. What's up?"

Gaara glanced at his brother. Perhaps he was right, and he was being thoughtful today. It was all of these new/old faces, he supposed. Not that he was a ray of sunlight on any other day.

"The sky." He responded, and smirked internally at his brother's perplexed expression.

"What?"

"The sky is up."

Kankurou looked surprised, and then sent him a lopsided grin. "Picking up poetry, little bro?" he teased.

Gaara snorted, and stood from his seat. "Hardly."

"Come on! Gai-sensei, Bushy brows! Tell me!" Naruto demanded loudly, only making the two green clad shinobi shaking their heads vigorously.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Lee said, sounding genuinely sorry. "But we have your orders."

"Come on. "

"Naruto, don't be an idiot. If Tsunade-sensei has given them orders not to tell anyone about their mission, they can't." Sakura sighed.

"But we're from the same village!"

"Naruto, settle down." A gruff voice said from the doorway, and Gaara glanced that way to see that tall, white haired man from earlier standing there. He looked ruffled, and tired. As if he hadn't slept since they came there, this might very well be true given the frantic way in which the man had dragged up Orochimaru from his sand. Temari had said that he hadn't left Orochimaru's side since then.

"But…" Naruto began, a stubborn look in his blue eyes.

"Be quite," the man snapped, sounding annoyed and sending the blond a glare. To Gaara's surprise Naruto actually did drop it, though he still held that defiant look in his eyes. As the tall man entered everyone fell silent, and Gaara wondered about this. Obviously this man was held in great respect, and his gruffly demeanour even more so.

As the man approached him and his brother, Gaara regarded him closely, noting the obvious signs of lack of sleep in the man. Signs he himself was all too familiar with.

"I don't think we have been formally introduced, Kazekage-sama," the man said when he reached them, and he held out a hand. "I'm Jiraiya. "

Jiraiya… that name did ring a bell, Gaara thought as he regarded the man's big hand. It was covered with a bandage, and the kazekage remembered that Orochimaru had bit him when he had reached into the sand to pull him back up. Gaara had a nagging suspicion as to why the snake had done so, but it was something, along with so much else, he wished to keep to himself.

"Sabaku no Gaara," he responded, shaking the man's hand and noting the strength in them when he realised why he recognised the name. Jiraiya, the sannin. The teammate of Orochimaru and Tsunade. The legend of those three had reached even Suna's deserts.

He watched silently as the legend shinobi shook his brother's hand, and then slumped down in a chair, looking ready to collapse.

Sleep deprivation obviously didn't sit well with that man, Gaara though just as the last two people who were to attend the meeting also came into the room. Temari nodded to the people gathered, before taking a seat on his desk.

"Well then, I guess everyone is here." Kakashi noted, looking around the room lazily with his uncovered eye. "So, Gai, what was it you had to tell us?"

*

Once he felt Jiraiya's presence leaving Orochimaru opened his eyes slowly, looking around the room with bleary eyes. It was dark in the room, as the curtains were drawn shut, but he knew it might as well be day as night outside. The curtains in suna were made to be able to shut out all light effectively. At any rate the dark didn't pose a problem to his eyes, he had always been able to see well in the dark. Another one of those special talents he had once held in such high regard, but now merely found useful for the task at hand.

He moved his arms, stretching the cords of his bindings to test them. They were strong he concluded, and kept his movements to a low, but he had already begun to work on the chakra strings strengthening them even as Jiraiya was sitting beside his bedside. So helpfully oblivious, as usual. Or maybe just too tired to realise that Orochimaru was indeed awake and already working on his escape? It didn't matter, he told himself, as he relaxed his arms and exhaled slowly.

The chakra strings were near breaking point, and now he gathered his chakra into a sharp point, slicing through them neatly. It was a minor thing to do once the strings had been weakened, yet he found himself panting at that small effort. He must have been severely weakened from the trials of the last few days. Odd, he hadn't realised it sooner.

Recovering slowly, he looked around the room again, and realised that he felt lightheaded. So weak.

Really rather pitiful.

Once the chakra cords were cut the other bindings were simple to cut, and once the feat was done he struggled from the bed. But when he tried to stand his knees buckled under him and he instantly found himself on the floor in a heap.

Pitiful indeed…

It took some coaxing for his limbs to cooperate before he slowly stumbled to his feet, and realising that they felt raw against the stone floor. Leaning against a wall heavily he inhaled and exhaled several deep breaths before he felt the dizziness leave, and once it did he moved stubbornly towards the door.

Opening it only slightly he listened for any sign of people nearby.

"…Kazekage-sama in his office."

"Those Konoha bastards," another voice muttered. "Dragging their problems along with them here."

"But it's nice that we are no longer in constant conflict with Konoha, don't you think? Kazekage-sama has done wonders with our relationship with Konoha, and they did come to our aide when the kazekage was abducted." The first voice, a female commented contently.

"Perhaps, but…"

Orochimaru didn't listen to the rest of the conversation as the voiced drew closer to the door, and he shut it gently.

Once he was certain that the people had had time to pass his door he opened it again, and heard no further sounds of people nearby.

Looking outside he found the corridor vacant, and he slipped from the room, closing the door behind him before stumbling off in the opposite direction from where the two people he had heard moments before go.

There was little work in finding a stairway that lead up, but more so in keeping from being seen in his weakened state. So it took a long while until he reached the top of the stairs, and stumbled out onto the roof on trembling legs.

At least he had been correct in his assumption of that it could be either night or day, he though as the heat of the sun beat down from him and he found himself looking out on the surrounding cliffs, bathed in that same sunlight.

He stood there, looking around, for a few moments, and was somewhat pleased to note that he at least was alone on the roof. Slowly he dragged his tired body over to the edge of the roof and breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally it could end.

He had been an arrogant fool in wanting to end this existence the way his former self might have dreamed of. That person and what he was now was hardly comparable. He should've thrown himself from the nearest cliff the moment he clawed himself from the ground, or better yet, he should've stayed in the ground to begin with.

But arrogance had been his undoing, he had struggled from his grave, struggled through Konoha into Suna, had struggled to hold onto the dream of a death that was meant for someone who was already dead.

The sound of a dry, cackling sound only remotely resembling a laugh caught his attention and he realised with some surprise that it was him making that sound. The surprise only made him laugh harder, until tears streamed down his cheeks, and he felt dizzy with exhaustion. Stumbling on the ledge he caught himself from falling, and promptly sat down, and he continued laughing at this. What a fool he was, climbing all of these stairs only to laugh himself into exhaustion, and then catching himself from falling over the edge when that was his intention for even climbing up here.

He was a fool, he though, and laughed again. It was truly ironic that it was Jiraiya that he had always referred to as the fool, just to realise that in the end it was he who was the fool. Feeling a dry tingling in his throat he coughed, still laughing through the fit, unable to stop. Until he did stop, the laughter leaving him as suddenly as it had come.

He had to be insane, he thought, as he leaned forwards to look over the edge. It was the only explanation. Completely and utterly insane.

Not that it would matter much longer, he thought glumly as he peered down on the sunlit village far below him. Let it be insanity, or perfect clarity for the first time since birth. None of it mattered when you smashed into the ground and your insides splattered on the ground from the impact.

*

"You can't be serious, Gai," Kakashi sighed. "You called us all here to tell us that you have nothing to tell us?"

"It's only nothing if you make it nothing," the green clad sensei replied sagely, firing off another grin, and Kakashi shook his head with another sigh.

"That makes no sense… why can't you just tell us why you have Danzou chained?" Naruto complained.

"We have told you everything we are at liberty to say," Neji said stoically, Gaara remembered his name now. Mostly thanks to Naruto's loud appearance earlier.

"Which is nothing." Sakura deadpanned.

Neji shrugged, as if that was a matter that didn't concern him. "Orders are orders."

Gaara found himself regarding Neji with curiosity, wondering if that easy confidence was an act or something that came naturally to him. He had never met anyone that held such an easy confidence before, in most people it was an act and easy for him to detect. Yet, this Neji, seemed so at ease with that confidence, and not the least bit strained. Either he was a remarkable actor or…

There was a hurried knock on the door, and he glanced that way. Everyone in the room fell silent as he called out: "Come in."

When the door opened a flustered suna nin practically ran inside.

"Kazekage-sama. I'm sorry for interrupting, but there's a problem."

"What sort of problem?" he asked, frowning.

"Orochimaru is gone."

"What?" the tall, white haired man shot to his feet. "What do you mean he's gone?"

"He's no longer in his room. The snake escaped."

"Oh man, after all the trouble we went through getting him back…" Gaara heard Naruto comment, but any further discussion was cut short as Jiraiya stormed from the room.

*

He should've thrown himself off this ledge by now; Orochimaru berated himself, but still found his limbs unwilling to do as his mind demanded. There was a hesitation in him, one he didn't like, nor felt accustomed to. Why was it there? Why was it plaguing his mind? Why did it keep him from meeting the end that he so longed for?

Snorting he pushed himself closer to the edge, looking down on the people below. They looked like little dots from this height, or possibly ants. Scurrying around.

Was it his arrogance that kept him at bay?

"_Your arr__ogance will be the death of you, boy!"_ He recalled an old foe he could no longer remember the face to once telling him this, and he snorted with contempt. As it seemed it was the other way around.

"Oro?"

Slowly turning his head, Orochimaru arched an eyebrow.

There, not far from him stood Jiraiya. How had he missed him approaching? Tilting his head, he looked his former teammate over. He looks like crap, his mind noted. Tired and ruffled like and old mattress at a seedy brothel. A comparison that fit remarkably well considering who he was referring to.

"Oro, what are you doing?"

Trying to kill myself, you buffoon? His mind answered sarcastically, but found that the words wouldn't leave his lips.

Instead he watched him warily as the taller man approached slowly, as if he was a caged animal that he didn't wish to scare.

Perhaps he could be his end, his mind suddenly suggested. It would be a fitting ending to this charade. Death by the hand of his former teammate, and friend. Closing his eyes, Orochimaru contemplated this, but found it hard to contemplate anything with the pounding headache. When had that set in? Was it because of the sun?

"Oro?"

With a snarl Orochimaru gathered whatever remaining strength he had left in his battered body and threw himself at Jiraiya. Baffled his former friend only barely avoided being kicked in the head, and he jumped back.

"What the hell are you doing?"

What I've been trying to do all along, you fool! He wanted to scream at him, but yet again found himself keeping the words in as he ran forwards, adrenaline the only thing keeping him on his feet. He threw a punch at his former friend's face, pleased when it connected, and dropped low to sweep the legs away from under him.

Draw your kunai, Jiraiya! He wanted to shout at the other man, but no words came out, and then, even as Jiraiya crashed into the floor he felt his feet tugged from under him. He fell with a gasp, feeling the breath leave him painfully, and then Jiraiya was over him. Grabbing his flailing arms and pinning them down above his head in a crushing grip while his heavy body pushed him into the floor. Forcing him to stay still.

"Oro! For fuck sake, what the hell are you doing?!" Jiraiya roared at his face, mere inches from his own. "Why the hell are you fighting me?"

Orochimaru strained against the other man's grip, tried to get away, to do anything to make him draw his weapon and end it, but then Jiraiya grabbed his chin in one strong hand, making him hold still.

"Answer me, damn you!" he yelled down at him, and Orochimaru was caught in that dark, angry gaze. Only then did he note the feeling of fabric against his chin and he glanced down to see that the hand that was holding his face was bandaged.

That bandage…

Closing his eyes, Orochimaru remembered that hand that had grabbed him and pulled him out of the ground. He had bitten that offending hand, and drawn blood. He could still taste the blood in his mouth now.

Jiraiya…

Opening his eyes again he gazed up into Jiraiya's eyes, and he felt the heavy body on top of his drew a sudden breath.

"…Damn you, Jiraiya…" he murmured, as he felt darkness creep over him once more.

*

Author's notes: Yep I took a break from this story, but now the new chapter is up at least. I hope you guys like it, and it didn't get too OOC, which can be the danger when you leave a story for a while I've come to notice.

I'm not too happy with the meeting and the interaction between the characters when I wrote it, but I might go back and change some of it later.

To Viktor: Thanks for this review, it made my day. I'm really glad you like the story and that you don't mind the JirayaXOro thing. :D Say thanks from me, to your friend who bullied you into reading it too. I do hope you both will enjoy the rest of the story as well.

To Maria: Thanks. XD I do love to make a bit of fun of Jiraiya at times. ^^ Yep, salt is necessary to survive in the desert heat. Though drinking saltwater/seawater will probably kill you because it doesn't contain the right dosage or minerals as salt with freshwater, and thus would dehydrate you. I found some website about it somewhere when I wrote the story, so I wanted to add it into the story: But now I can't find it again... I should learn to bookmark. :P


	7. Chapter 7

The Serpent God

Chapter 7: Back on the road.

Main Characters: Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade

Minor Characters: Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Gaara, Neji etc

Warnings: somewhat AU, Yaoi(eventually)

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

*

It was hot and the air in his lungs felt dry. Coughing to ease the tingling in his throat he felt the bouncing movements, with which he was travelling through the desert, stop.

"Oro?"

That voice again, how he loathed it. Screwing his eyes tightly shut he silently cursed that voice, and the man it belonged to, and fought down the urge to scream at him to shut his filthy mouth. Of course it didn't work; it never did with _that_ man.

"Oro, are you awake?"

He sounded worried now, and Orochimaru noted absently that they still hadn't resumed their travel. The idiot probably felt that he just had to make certain that his cargo was alright. Little did he know that he was indeed damaged goods.

"Oro?"

Shut up.

If his limbs hadn't felt like lead he'd had kicked the fool by now. To his relief his silence did seem to prompt his former teammate into action for after another moment of silence the bouncing movements, that he recognised as walking, picked up again. They must be quite the display at the moment, Orochimaru thought grimly. He knew that he was being carried, and since he could feel Jiraiya's body between his legs the cretin had obviously decided to carry him on his back. The lewd idiot. He probably didn't even realise how disgraceful it would be for him to be carried around like one of his prized conquests. The second he could move his body properly again, he promised, he'd strangle him with his own two hands. Or better yet, a snake.

For the moment though, he'd have to wait. He'd bide his time and strike at the opportune moment, as was his custom.

"Is he waking up, Ero-sannin?" a new voice asked. He thought he recognised the voice, if only dimly, but it was hard to tell without looking.

"I don't know, Naruto." Jiraiya answered, sounding grim. "And I told you not to call me that."

Really Jiraiya, Orochimaru thought and mentally rolled his eyes. If the shoe fits the horse…

"Sakura could you take a look on him?"

"He's fine, Jiriya-sama," a girl's voice answered, sounding somewhat exasperated. As if she was repeating something obvious to a stubborn child and loathed the fact that she was forced to repeat herself yet again. Still he felt Jiraiya come to a halt, and bend down before slightly damp fingers touched Orochimaru's forehead. Then his throat, as if to check his pulse. "He's just tired. His body is demanding rest."

Rest? He almost snorted at that. His traitorous body was not which was demanding rest; it was what kept him from it.

"There's nothing wrong with him."

Of course not, just brought back from the grave where he should've been allowed to stay. Nothing wrong at all.

"I wouldn't go that far," yet another voice commented, although almost inaudible.

"Shut up, Kankurou," the flinty tone of a woman snapped back.

"What for? That bastard nearly killed Gaara, Temari."

"I am fine." A third voice spoke up; low but assertive, and somehow effectively silencing the one who was no doubt routing for his unfortunate demise.

He's not the only one, Orochimaru thought as Jiraiya began to walk once more. Too bad that neither one of them seemed to get their wish.

He must have fallen back asleep, he decided when he opened his eyes and found himself lying on his back, staring up on a clear night sky.

"…and then I said: I am the green beast of the Leaf, respected foe. Who might you be? But the enemy did not respond to my courteous greeting."

"That's awfully rude, sensei. Even in battle against an enemy respect towards your foe is vital."

Turning his head towards the voices he saw a group of people sitting not far from him, all gathered around a fire.

"Indeed it is, Lee," the man who was obviously telling a story said. As he said this the man smiled a dazzling smile, which was returned from a younger man that looked much like a copy of the elder. "And it's a sorrowful day when such respect is lost to… "

"So who the hell was that guy?" another man asked, this one a young man dressed in black. No doubt a Suna nin, judging from the wrapped up dolls that were lying by his feet.

"Ah, that was a tree." The green clad man announced, sounding oddly proud of this fact. "It was dark outside and I mistook the tree for an enemy."

There was an awkward silence amongst the ninjas, during which Orochimaru took the opportunity to look over the rest of the group.

Only three girls, all of which were young, he quickly noted. Recalling the conversation he had heard earlier he assumed that the one with pink hair was called Sakura, no doubt in some kind of honour to the blossoms colour. Another one would be called Temari, but he didn't know if it was the blond or the brunette.

The man with the dolls was Kankurou, he could remember his voice from earlier, and next to him sat that red headed boy-kage, Gaara.

The unmistakable feeling of being watched interrupted his thoughts and he turned his eyes towards the direction that he felt the heavy gaze coming from.

Danzou met his gaze evenly, not with one movement betraying that he had noticed that he was awake.

He had aged horribly, Orochimaru thought as he took in the raggedly looking old man. Not that such a thing was uncommon given their occupation. Few shinobi lived to be as old as Danzou, and those who did would carry the evidence of their past on their bodies.

"Oh man, I thought you said that was one of your greatest battles," a loud voice spoke up, and Orochimaru's eyes darted towards the young man who had spoken. A blond. Had it not been for the scars running across his cheeks like whiskers Orochimaru might not have recognised him, but those scars made him easy to recognise as the Kuuybi's host.

"Make no mistake, it was a fiery battle, Naruto." The man in green announced proudly.

"Against a tree?" the blond queried doubtfully.

"What worse enemy is there than one who is unaffected by fists, and always remains standing strong?"

The man was a worse fool than Jiraiya, Orochimaru thought.

As if the mere thought of him suddenly pulled at his former teammate's attention, he turned his head and looked at him.

"Oro," Jiraiya exclaimed, a look of surprise on his face. "You're awake!"

In that same moment all conversation died down, and Orochimaru could feel every last pair of eyes turning to look straight at him. He refused to look at them though, and instead glared at his former friend as the man leaned closer to him as if to make certain that he was imagining things.

Jiraiya raised his hand, reaching for him, and Orochimaru's eyes narrowed when he caught sight of the bandaged limb. The limb that was the undoing of his own demise. Snarling he slapped the hand away from him, rejoicing as he saw the brief look of hurt in Jiraiya's eyes.

Jiraiya, as usual, quickly recovered though, and reached for a canteen that he offered to him.

"You should drink." Jiraiya said, a serious look in his eyes. Almost as if he dared him to refuse. What would he do if he did refuse, Orochimaru wondered. That steely look in his former friend's eyes offered no answers. Would he pry his jaws open and pour the water down his throat against his will?

Let me thirst to death, fool. What use was there to prolong this existence?

Still the look in Jiraiya's eyes forced his arm up to accept the canteen, but his arm froze in midair when his eyes fell on the cord around his wrist.

*

"It's just to make sure you don't run off again, Oro," Jiraiya tried to reassure his friend for what felt like the hundredth time since Oro had discovered the cord that bound them together. "And Suna refused to let you go unless you wore this." He held up his own wrist, and pointed to the cord wrapped snugly around it.

Oro didn't respond, just glared harder at him while fingering the offending cord.

Jiraiya wouldn't say it to him, but truth be told the cord made him feel more at ease. He knew what Oro was capable of and how silent and quick he could be if he wished not to be noticed. He had little doubt that if it wasn't for the cord the snake would slither away the moment his body was strong enough.

As it now were the cord kept him close to him. And enhanced as it were with his own chakra it would be difficult for Oro to break it.

"Why are you trying to run off all the time anyway? Getting into useless battles. Are you trying to get killed?" he hadn't really meant to sound quite so scolding and annoyed, but he couldn't help it. He didn't usually get hung up over the things that he didn't understand, but it was different with Oro. He was his friend, despite all that had happened over the past thirty years, and he refused to let his friends get hurt. "If it's about Konoha… you know, we'll explain everything. Tsunade has probably already started, and people will understand."

At this the snake's eyes narrowed dangerously, but he didn't answer.

Jiraiya sighed and reached for the bottle of sake he had bought before leaving Suna. But when he tipped it to his lips a sharp tug on his wrist caused him to splash out the liquor, and he cussed loudly.

"What the hell are you doing?" he snapped, glaring at the dark haired wraith sitting across from him in the small tent. Oro's white face was as impassive as ever, but for a second Jiraiya thought he saw a glint of… what? Amusement? Satisfaction? Triumph? In those bright yellow eyes. Jiraiya regarded him suspiciously. "You happy now, geisha-face?" he asked grudgingly, intentionally using that old nickname that used to drive Oro off the bend when they were young.

Now however the snake merely lay down on the makeshift bed and turned his back on him.

Jiraiya gazed on the slim back for a moment, followed the white neck with his eyes and fought the urge to take the figure into his arms and rejoice at the fact that he was back with them. Safe and sound, where he belonged.

He had an inkling that a hug would not be appreciated at the moment though. In fact Oro had never been appreciative of shows of affection in general, and had always scoffed at such ordinary display of affection as hugs. Even between friends, something which Jiraiya had found out to be a big no-no once in his youth. That little episode had nearly cost him more than he was willing to risk when the snake had tried to kick him between the legs. The bastard had nearly succeeded too, and if it hadn't been for his own instincts which had been honed after years of peeping into the women's baths he'd have to live his life with a considerably higher tone of voice than he now had.

Tsunade and Sarutobi-sensei had thought it was hilarious though, he recalled with a smile.

Sighing again he too lay down to go to sleep.

*

The others were sleeping, so Gaara kept watch. His sleeping habits were not what someone would call normal, and although he couldn't stay awake for as long as he once had been able to he still rarely slept much. At any rate he had no wish to have anymore stupid dreams right now, even if there were no beds to fall out off.

Besides, since they were still in the desert he was the best guard they could've asked for. Surrounded by endless sand dunes he could detect an enemy long before anyone else, just as he could still detect the presence of his own shinobi who had decided to follow them despite the fact that he had told them to remain in Suna.

He supposed that they were in fact going against his orders, which in itself were unusual, but he didn't really mind. No doubt if he did go confront them about it they'd only reply with something like; "But Kazekage-sama, we are still in Suna. We are merely out hunting."

He had decided to let the matter rest.

His men would turn to head back to Suna once they reached the end of the desert, which of course counted as Suna territory.

He didn't really understand this new found need his people seemed to feel to protect him, even against things that were of danger to him, but Temari had said that it was because they were worried about him. Because he was important to their people.

A precious person.

Although the idea of him being a precious person was new and bewildering to him, he found that he didn't mind it.

"Do you want to sleep, kazekage-sama?" a deep voice asked from behind him.

"No." he answered, not turning to look at the other man. He had already sensed his approach long before he spoke.

There was a pause where the other shinobi walked closer, seating himself across from Gaara on the sand. Looking up Gaara once again wondered about this man, and why he felt so fascinated by him. He was just a man after all; there should be no reason for why he found himself looking at him every chance he got. Perhaps it was the eyes, he thought as he looked at those bright lavender coloured eyes. They had no pupils, like his own, perhaps that was why.

He knew many people found eyes without pupils rather disconcerting. He found them interesting. He had never met anyone else who had eyes like his, although his own were green and Neji Hyuuga's almost resembled the moon in colour.

"Is there something on your mind, kazekage-sama?" the Hyuuga asked with his usual air of confidence.

Gaara considered the question; there were a lot of things on his mind, but none of which seemed to concern the Hyuuga.

"No."

The dark haired man gave him an odd look, almost as if he wanted to pry further but apparently he caught himself before he could do so. Instead he looked around at the surrounding sand dunes.

"Are they still following us?"

Gaara blinked in surprise.

"You noticed them?"

A slight smirk grazed the Hyuuga's lips, and something akin to amusement glowed in his eyes. "Yes."

"How?" Gaara was curious. He knew why he could sense them, his men were after all walking on his sand, but why would a Konoha nin be able to sense them as well?

Another small smirk flittered across those lips.

"Is there any tea?" the Konoha nin asked instead, and had obviously decided to change the subject. Gaara didn't like when people did that before answering his questions, but one thing he had learned was that when people did that, they usually did it for two different reasons; one was out of embarrassment, the other was out of secrecy.

The first one he loathed, but he didn't think that the Hyuuga was embarrassed. No doubt he kept his tongue out of secrecy, and that was fine by Gaara. There were many secrets in the world of the shinobi after all.

"Temari brought some. She left the pouch in that bag," Gaara nodded towards the discarded bag next to the fire. "In case I wanted any."

The dark haired man nodded and reached for the bag to dig through it.

"Would you like some tea, kazekage-sama?" the other shinobi asked as he fished out a small pouch of tea from the bag, and Gaara nodded.

As he regarded the other man preparing the tea he smirked to himself. Indeed there were many secrets in the world of the shinobi, and half the fun was in discovering them. Which he intended to do.

*

Kabuto downed his seventh glass of sake, and put the glass back down on the table with a heavy bang. With bleary eyes he regarded the half empty bottle of liquor on the otherwise empty table, and wondered if it was just him or if the bottle really did look smaller than when he had walked in to the tavern half an hour earlier.

To figure this mystery out he lay his head down on the table and looked at the bottle from that angle.

"I'm gonna drink you up," he heard himself slur at the bottle, and nodded in agreement with himself. He would. He'd drink it all, and when he was done he'd drink another bottle, and another, and… until he passed out.

This had been his habit in every town he and the remains of Orochimaru-sama's men had come to since the snake master's death. Many of them had left, although many also remained with him. They were confused, and unsure of what to do now that their leader had died.

"So not fair…" he murmured and concentrated hard as he poured another glass of sake.

It really wasn't fair that they assumed that he'd look after them. It wasn't fair that he had to pick up the pieces and hold them in his own bloodied hands. It wasn't fair that Orochimaru-sama had died; he decided and gulped down the liquor.

"…you hear? The little shit killed a bunch of guys and then walked off to fight Gaara of the Desert!"

"If he went after Gaara he's probably dead by now."

Kabuto lolled his head back to look over his shoulder at the men talking. They were sitting in the both behind him so it was a bit of a stretch, and it made his neck ache so he snorted and went back to his bottle and his misery.

"Perhaps. But I heard there was a bunch of Konoha shinobi chasing after the bastard, and ya haven't heard the best part yet!"

Kabuto tried to pour himself another glass, but after missing the glass and instead pouring a large amount of liquor onto the table he gave up and instead put the bottle straight to his lips. Drinking deep he half listened to the conversation being held behind his back.

"And what's that?"

"They say that the bastard that killed all those men, and went to kill the kazekage was Orochimaru himself."

Kabuto choked on his liquor.

*

Author's notes: Ah, there we go. Sorry about the delay but I haven't had access to internet for a while.

So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think I got everything in there, although there may be some stuff I missed. As for the slight time jump since the previous chapter, I just felt like there was nothing more I wanted to write about their stay in Suna so I decided to get them back on the road.

Danzou is still in the picture, but as for the reason Gai is still keeping that to himself for the moment.

The cord that is tied around Oro and Jiraiya's wrist is as I wrote just a precaution to keep the snake from running and also from hurting anyone. Also it forces Oro and Jiraiya to interact which I of course enjoy.


End file.
